Magnetic Field Effects on Photochemical Reactions in Ionic Liquids with Short Alkyl Chains

Magnetic field effects (MFEs) on the photoinduced hydrogen abstraction reactions of benzophenone and thiobenzophenone from thiophenol were investigated in several ionic liquids with short alkyl chains by a nanosecond laser flash photolysis technique. In each ionic liquid, escaped radical yields of benzophenone and thiobenzophenone ketyl radicals gradually decreased with increasing magnetic field strength. The observed results were analyzed by using the stochastic Liouville equation (SLE), employing a solvent separated radical pair (SSRP) model where the SSRP with a specific radical-radical distance is stable and has a long lifetime. The SLE analysis revealed that the lifetime of the SSRP and the radical rotation in the SSRP states are strongly correlated with the macroviscosity of the ionic liquids.